alien
by glitter cordite
Summary: an organism, especially a plant or animal, that occurs in or is naturalized in a region to which it is not native. au/jeankasa


a·li·en

ˈālyən,ˈālēən/

**1**. Belonging to, characteristic of, or constituting another and very different place, society, or person; strange.

**2**. _Ecology_: An organism, especially a plant or animal, that occurs in or is naturalized in a region to which it is not native.

* * *

_Automated response:_

_Military cargo vessel Menoetius, mission: ferry ammo from earth to LV-462._

_Allowed one return stop on LV-223 for supplies and fuel before returning to_

_Earth._

_Crew is in stasis- save for one left conscious to man the life support system._

* * *

Marco had always loved the hush of deep space, the near silence allowed for reflection and thought. A little bit like standing at the pinnacle of some great planetoid's mountain, he could see before him nearly endlessly, past galaxies and nebulas and the great, great multitude of stars. It took his breath away and made his gritty line of work (not to mention being the only crew member currently out of stasis.) more than worth it. The gentle engineer always treasured the moments he could spend alone deep in the hull of the _Menoetius_, just him, the softly whirring machinery and the stars.

Except for tonight.

Tonight he could feel there was something more in the air, his monitors weren't showing anything, but if there was one thing to his credit, it was that he could look past what the machines fed him. And he knew that he was not alone. For the first time in his (admittedly short) life, Marco could honestly say that he felt the claustrophobia of space. He could feel the walls of his cockpit closing in, dim light from the monitors and instruments casting no relief on his rapidly compressing world. Tonight the extensive view of the stars he was allowed was no blessing, it seemed more like a wall, keeping him from abandoning his station and joining his crew in the brightly lit stasis chamber.

Running a hand through his short fringe, the man stood from his chair, cast one last glance at his radar and left, leaving the dim glow of his monitors to fall on the stars.

As the thick, metal door slid closed behind him with a whoosh, silence fell over the small chamber. In his absence the monitors continued to glow, punctuated by erratic flashes, machines continuing their duty even in the absence of their Engineer. In the dim lighting they allowed, a lithe form dropped from the ceiling.

* * *

"What do you mean Marco's missing?"

The head of Navigation snapped from over the rim of his coffee cup, tawny eyes narrowed. The small crew of the _Menoetius_ was gathered around an oval table, pseudo-breakfast heaped on their plates and coffee warming the stale air.

Standing beside him, the First Officer rolled her pretty grey eyes, "You heard me, Kirschtein, when Thomas came to relieve him of his duty and help him into stasis he was already gone." Muscled arms folded beneath her small bust as she fixed the Navigator with a flat stare.

"Well shouldn't the dolt have checked his fucking stasis chamber?" Agitated, the lean man stood, coffee all but forgotten. "I mean, that seems pretty fucking common sense to me." The First Officer reached out, letting one thin hand curl around his bicep.

"Hey!" Thomas called from the other end of the room, hot plate in hand. "If you were on a tight schedule and didn't want to leave monitors unattended, you'd assume that your _perfectly_ _smart and able _crewmate had put themselves into stasis too!"

An uncomfortable silence fell over the dining room, each crewmate picturing themselves in the aforementioned situation. Jean shot a glance at the stoic First Officer, noting the way she eyed the crew with mild unease.

"Have we already done a scan for life onboard the ship?" The silence snapped by the level voice of the resident medic, Fubar.

Mikasa turned to face him, guard up. "Yeah, and everything checked out." She let her hand fold back underneath her chest. "Bodt is just hiding somewhere clever, possibly suffering from a post-stasis hangover." She shrugged and turned to go, slim frame looking smaller than ever without its usual array of weapons.

"Breakfast ends in fifteen, be at your stations in twenty."

* * *

If there were two things Jean Kirschtein knew it was Mikasa Ackerman and Maps. Oh, and also Marco Bodt. And if there was one thing he knew about Bodt, it was that he was not the type to leave his station before he was granted leave. Things weren't adding up, and as the Navigator consulted with the ships map records (they hadn't deviated from the course while on autopilot, and would arrive on earth in approximately a month.) he had a distinct feeling that there was something wrong. Sighing he ran a hand through his messy hair and hoped that his intuition was just being tweaky. A month was just barely enough time for the crew to prep for landing, let alone deal with a missing crewmember and if-

His train of thought was thrown right off track by the soft whoosh of the bay door opening. Swiveling his chair around to face it, he was met with the sight of the First Officer herself, uniform unzipped and hanging low on her hips. Smiling, he sat back in his seat as she drew closer, the soft light of the monitors making her pale skin and white tank top glow.

"Heard from Marco yet?" She asked as she came to straddle his lap, veritably purring as warm, calloused hands came to rest on her slight hips.

"No, what about you?" Head bowed, she shook a negative, fingers distractedly toying with the ranking sewn onto his uniform, faded red clashing against the worn grey fabric. Jean let a gusty sigh escape his lips, and after a brief check that the door had, in fact, closed, he pressed a soft kiss to his lover's temple. Leanly muscled arms slid around his neck, and Jean smirked as she tilted her head upwards, demanding attention.

"I guess you missed me while we were in stasis, huh?" The man teased, strong hands rubbing her back with familiar ease. An unladylike snort, "don't get too high and mighty there pal." He grinned and their lips came together again, intensity rising as his hands disappeared under her thin white tank.

"-Ikasa. I need you on the bridge."

The couple broke apart at the sudden interruption, hearts racing. The com crackled a little more before the Captain's voice echoed through the ship again. "Goddamnit, remind me to get this thing fixed when we dock…. Officer Ackerman, can you report to the bridge please?" Sighing, Mikasa leaned past Jean to press the com button on his panel. "Be right there, Captain Jaeger." Stealing one last kiss before she stood, Jean watched her reluctantly pull the heavy cloth of her uniform back on.

"I guess I'll see you later?"

"Yeah, I have break around 16:00 and then free time after dinner."

He shot her a grin as she opened the door, hair shifting slightly as the air moved. "Alright, I'll see you then."

A soft smile and she was gone.

* * *

"Mikasa do I even want to know why you answered my com from Kirschtein's station?" Standing with his back to the cockpit's window, Eren Jaeger regarded his adoptive sister and First Officer with a keen eye. The woman raised one eyebrow and threw her hair up into a ponytail, nonchalantly shrugging.

"I don't know, do you?"

Her brother sighed and dropped his hands from behind his back. "Did he know anything about Marco?"

"No, he's just as in the dark as we are."

Eren nodded, brow furrowed. "I don't like it, it doesn't fit with his character at all."

Mikasa nodded, and moved to look at the main monitor screen, deftly pulling up the results of the bio-scan.

Glowing clearly and irrefutably on the screen before them were the results:

**Total Organisms**: 7

**Expected**: 7

**Found**: 7

Frowning, Mikasa pulled up a list of the crew as Eren came to stand behind her, eyes dark.

_Crew listing for the military cargo vessel Menoetius [M-830.13]:_

Ackerman, Mikasa, _First Officer_

Bodt, Marco, _Head of Engineering_

Fubar, Berthold, _Medic_

Jaeger, Eren, _Captain_

Kirschtein, Jean, _Head of Navigation_

Weaver, Nicolette, _Engineer_

Tiques, Arivana, _Engineer_

* * *

The two stared at the results uneasily. Everyone was accounted for, and yet one crewmember hadn't been seen since the first stasis changeover, nearly twelve months ago. He hadn't been seen by anyone, even his best friend. The Menoetius was big, but it wasn't that big. Add on to that Marco's sociable nature and the fact that your body need's nearly instant nutrition after coming out of stasis and the results looked grim at best. Something wasn't right. The recordings of the corridors showed nothing save for normal patrolling and the occasional systems check.

The whole situation left Eren with a sour taste in his mouth, his crew were his family, friends and comrades bonded together over years of grueling training and shared woes. He was not about to let one of them just disappear underneath his radar. That was not how he rolled. Around them machines whirred and the stars flew past their front facing window. Mikasa sighed and flicked through the surveillance recordings again, she'd find where the fucker (whatever the fucker may be.) slipped up. This wouldn't be possible save for an outside variable, and she was going to figure it out. (There was too much at stake, the emotions of the crew, her captain, her _lover_.)

The siblings stood together and silence reigned.


End file.
